Povidone-Iodine 2.5% dry powder spray
Povidone-iodine is a stable chemical complex of polyvinylpyrrolidone (povidone, PVP) and elemental iodine.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Povidone-Iodine
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
1 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICE clinical guidance(8)
Leg ulcer infection: antimicrobial prescribing (NG152)
Surgical site infections: prevention and treatment (NG125)
Tegaderm CHG securement dressing for vascular access sites in critically ill adults (HTG379)
Topical antimicrobial dressings for locally infected leg ulcers: late-stage assessment (HTG751)
Infection prevention and control (QS61)
Caesarean birth (NG192)
Chronic wounds: advanced wound dressings and antimicrobial dressings (ESMPB2)
Biopatch for venous or arterial catheter sites (MIB117)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary. ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 32 · Randomised trials: 16 · 1991–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
A Noorani, Nicholas G Rabey, Stewart R. Walsh, et al.
British journal of surgery, 2010
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Chlorhexidine
- Povidone-Iodine
D. G. Maki, C J Alvarado, Martin Ringer
The Lancet, 1991
- Administration, Cutaneous
- 1-Propanol
- Analysis of Variance
Olivier Mimoz, Jean‐Christophe Lucet, Thomas Kerforne, et al.
The Lancet, 2015
- Ethanol
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Antisepsis
Jeffery S. Garland, Colleen P. Alex, Chris D. Mueller, et al.
PEDIATRICS, 2001
- Bandages
- Administration, Cutaneous
- Administration, Topical
J. Roeckner, L. Sanchez-Ramos, Melanie Mitta, et al.
American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 2019
Paul Bigliardi, Syed Abdul Latiff Alsagoff, Hossam Elkafrawi, et al.
International Journal of Surgery, 2017
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Povidone-Iodine
- Surgical Wound Infection
Shi Chen, Jun Chen, Bin Guo, et al.
World Journal of Surgery, 2020
Didier Lepelletier, Jean Maillard, Bruno Pozzetto, et al.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2020
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Staphylococcal Infections
- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Michael Phillips, Andrew Rosenberg, Bo Shopsin, et al.
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 2014
Atul Humar, Aileen Ostromecki, Judy Direnfeld, et al.
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2000
- Anti-Infective Agents, Local
- Catheterization, Central Venous
- Chlorhexidine
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
Not available
Mechanism
Povidone-iodine is called iodophore which means povidone acts as a carrier of iodine.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
Protein binding
Volume of distribution
Metabolism
Elimination
Clearance
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Povidone iodine gel is a gynecological topical semi-mobile colloidal agent made by povidone iodine and hydrophilic matrix. It is a system for maintaining its sustained release. Owing to the continuous release of free iodine, it can enable the skin and mucous membranes to maintain a certain effective concentration of iodine for killing bacteria. It is mainly used for gynecological vaginal infection. It exerted its effect through being miscible with vaginal secretions and further killing the inside pathogenic microorganisms, and thus blocking the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and invasion, as well as treating other infected vaginal diseases caused by other kinds of bacteria.
Published reports on the in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of iodophors demonstrate that iodophors are bactericidal, mycobactericidal, and virucidal but can require prolonged contact times to kill certain fungi and bacterial spores. Three brands of povidone-iodine solution have demonstrated more rapid kill (seconds to minutes) of S. aureus and M. chelonae at a 1:100 dilution than did the stock solution. The virucidal activity of 75–150 ppm available iodine was demonstrated against seven viruses. Other investigators have questioned the efficacy of iodophors against poliovirus in the presence of organic matter and rotavirus in distilled or tapwater. Manufacturers' data demonstrate that commercial iodophors are not sporicidal, but they are tuberculocidal, fungicidal, virucidal, and bactericidal at their recommended use-dilution.
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
ATC G01AX11
ATC R02AA15
ATC D08AG02
ATC D09AA09
ATC S01AX18
ATC D11AC06
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Povidone-iodine
Matched from: Povidone-Iodine
DrugBank citations
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q241516), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.